Pod Rods brings you weekly updates on car news, automotive rumors and all the car events happening in the area.This time, we talk about the First Coast car Council's big annual car show on Saturday, and check on some of last week's happening at Pebble Beach, including on-track action and one of the oddest cars ever.Our top story is a possible vintage racing event under discussion for Fernandina Beach, being proposed by a local vintage racer as well as the man behind the world-class Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.Plus, don't forget to check out our news partner's First Coast Gears at First Coast News.

Now here's some automotive news:

-- A vintage car and aircraft event that could see static displays as well as automobile racing is being proposed for Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport in Nassau County.But while the airport authority board and Fernandina Beach City Council have given "conceptual approval" for such an event, it is still in a very early stage, said Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance founder and chairman Bill Warner, working on the event for a private client.Warner joined Ralph Thomas, retired contractor and vintage car racer from Fernandina Beach, to make the presentations in recent weeks. The event would be separate from the 17-year-old concours, set for March 8 to 10 at the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island and other area venues. And it would be funded independently, he added.The event would be modeled on vintage car events like the Goodwood Revival, a huge historic motoring event held at the historic Goodwood race track in England. Goodwood spectators are expected to dress in vintage clothing and drive there in classic cars as they watch vintage race cars from the 1940s, 50s and 60s and see fly-bys by World War Ii aircraft."The individuals who want to do this event know we are capable of putting on a world-class event because of our contacts and relationships with various world class manufacturers," Warner said.Warner said he can't identify the "entity" that is planning the event, but added that three other venues in the U.S. are also being considered at this early stage. But Fernandina Beach has two major positives – its airport, and the Ritz-Carlton nearby, he said.

-- Carroll Shelby may be gone, but his Cobras continue to thrive, as this great video from Autoblog shows of the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. These 289-cu.in. and 427-cu.in. beats can be seen negotiating the infamous corkscrew at Laguna Seca, a billboard with Shelby's face looking on as if in pride.

-- Bentley is showcasing artistic renderings of its Mulsanne Convertible Concept, and a glimpse into the potential future of the marque's flagship family. Calling it "the world's most elegant and sophisticated convertible," the proposed car will have room for four in a cabin design inspired by luxurious power boats. Open-top cars have been a big part of the company's heritage since its formation in 1919, from the race-bred 3-liters of the 1920s to the Park Ward S1 Drophead Coupe of the fifties through the Corniche and, most recently, Azure.

-- I've been saying for years that someone would soon make a diesel-powered sports car a bit more exclusive than the great BMW 3-Series. And now the British sports car maker, Trident, has. Its new Iceni Grand Tourer will premiere Sept. 5 to 7 at Salon Privé 2012, held at West London's Syon Park. It's front/mid-engine 6.6-liter turbordiesel engine has 430-hp and 950 lbs-ft. of torque at under 3250rpm. An upgrade to 660bhp is available. And get this – it runs on mineral diesel, bio diesel, palm oil and linseed oil, has a top speed of almost 200 mph and does a 0-60 mph sprint in just 3.7 seconds. Price tag – under $120,000, and Trident says it will get up to 68.9mpg.

-- Lots of classic car action in and around Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance last week.Gooding & Company, official auction house of the concours, sold more than $60 million in cars, the most notable the 1960 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider that set a world record at $11,275,000. Comedian Jay Leno's 2012 Fiat 500 Prima Edizione sold for $385,000, benefitting the Fisher House Foundation. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and United States Army Chief of Staff, General Raymond Odierno, joined Leno to introduce the organization that provides services and support to families of wounded American soldiers.Meanwhile, RM Auctions sold a 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder (1 of 37) for $8.58 million at its Pebble Beach-area auction. A 1956 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta "Tour de France" sold for $6.71 million. In total, 13 automobiles exceeded $1 million each during the three-and-a-half hour sale.Both auction houses will be back during the next Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, March 8-10.

-- A 1934 BMW R7 motorcycle won best-in-class in the motorcycle class at the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, received by Karl Baumer, head of BMW Group Classic. The R7 was created at the height of the Art Deco movement, created as a concept but never put into production Discovered in 2005, it was restored by BMW Group Classic and is now a part of the company's extensive collection of significant BMW cars and motorcycles.

-- Robert "Scotty" Nicholl Matthewson was a wealthy Scottish engineer who lived in Calcutta in 1910. He decided a regular car wasn't enough, so he bought a 30-hp Brooke sedan and had an ornate wooden swan's body added to it before hauling it back to India. As if that wasn't eccentric enough for a car that cost three times what a Rolls-Royce did, he had a multi-note organ added, as well as a nozzle in the swan's mouth that spit steaming water as a way to get people to move out of his way. Finally, he installed a pipe in back that dropped a dollop of white goo to make the swanmobile look like it was – well, you know.Equipped with glowing eyes, silk upholstery, gold leaf accents and brushes to keep the tires clean, the ornate car made an appearance at Pebble Beach last week, and Jay Leno's Garage web video series took a walk around it with owner Evert Louwman.

-- Nissan has created a new position of executive adviser of competitive assessment and quality, and managed to lure Consumer Reports Auto Test Center Senior Director David Champion for the job. As Nissan launches five new vehicles in 15 months, Champion will be based at its Arizona Testing Center. His work will align closely with customer satisfaction efforts overseen by Carla Bailo, senior vice president, research and development. Champion's hiring marks his return to Nissan, where he served as a quality assurance engineer from 1994 to 1997, working to identify and correct customer dissatisfiers. His job, says Nissan, will be to "play a key role" in its focus on quality improvement. Prior to Consumer Reports and Nissan, Champion was a principal engineer at Land Rover of North America. Two of the senior engineers from CR's Auto Test program, Jennifer Stockburger and Jake Fisher, have been promoted from Program Manager to Director and are assuming David's responsibilities.

-- It's good to be rich, because you get to design your own supercar. That's what McLaren Special Operations did for one secret client when it did the one-off X-1, premiered at a Pebble Beach weekend event. Based on McLaren's new 12C sports car, it was created for a customer who already has a McLaren F1, Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren and a 12C. Based on the 12C's carbon MonoCell structure, its inspirations included a 1953 Chrysler D'Elegance Ghia, 1959 Buick Electra, the Guggenheim museums in New York and Bilbao and even an Airstream trailer. Designers submitted proposals, and McLaren's Hong Yeo was chosen. The styling took 18 months to sign off on, and everything is custom made down to the lights and wheels. Carbon fiber panels are finished in a piano black, with side panels done in lacquered visual carbon fiber. It weighs about 3,000 pounds, no price mentioned.

-- Attention NASCAR fans - NASCAR and FOX Deportes will team up to provide the sport's most expansive Spanish-language broadcast offering with coverage of 15 Sprint Cup Series races as well as original programming, daily news segments and weekly updates starting in 2013, it was announced Monday. FOX Deportes, the No. 1 U.S. Latino Sports network, will carry live six Cup races, including, for the first time, a Spanish-language broadcast of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 24, 2013. The network also will produce and air a series of original NASCAR programs focused on engaging the Latino fan base, including four 30-minute original programs that will highlight the storied history and personalities that make NASCAR one of the most popular sports in the world. This series will be complemented by daily news segments in the No. 1-rated U.S. Latino sports news franchise, Central FOX. FOX Deportes coverage of Cup racing gets under way Feb. 16, 2013, with coverage of the Daytona Shootout. In addition to it and the Daytona 500, the network will broadcast live four additional races from the Auto Club Speedway, Bristol, Charlotte and Talladega.

Lots of car events happening this weekend and soon:

Florida events:• First Coast Car Council's 26th annual Rollin' on the River Car, Truck and Motorcycle Show - One of the area's biggest annual shows, it runs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Jacksonville Landing on 2 Independent Drive. Benefitting the Ronald McDonald House, early registration is $25 per show car, and $30 after Aug. 15. Information at www.carcouncil.org.• Historic Main Street Cruise-In - A classic "American Graffiti"-style car cruise down Main Street from 1st to 12th streets, set for 6 to 11:30 p.m. Saturday . Hundreds of cars drive up and down Main Street as others park on the side, joined by spectators and lots of food vendors.• Wings 'N Wheels - 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday Sept. 8, Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport, 855 St. Johns Bluff Road N. Static aircraft and car displays, plane rides, kid's zone, live entertainment and food for sale. Free admission and parking, but a $20 registration fee for vehicles. For information and registration, go to www.wingsnwheels2012.com.• Rolling Thunder Chapter 4 presents the Bikers for America's Bravest poker run, car and bike show and festival - 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, starting at Town Hall Park, 2042 Park Ave. in Orange Park. Rally registration is $30 per bike, or $125 for a VIP Rider. Proceeds from the festival, with live music, a car and bike show and food and game vendors, goes to help build a home for Marine Corps Corporal Todd Love, a triple amputee. For more information, go to www.tunneltotowers.org.

Florida cruise-ins:

• Informal cruise-in - 7 to 9 a.m. every Saturday at the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop at 11117 San Jose Blvd. in Mandarin.• Sunshine State Chevelles Cruise-in - A new one at 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and every fourth Saturday of the month at Aw Shucks Oyster Bar, 9743 Old St. Augustine Road. That means a move for another SSC cruise-in, now 12 to 3 p.m. Sunday and every fourth Sunday at Woody's barbecue, 226-1 Solana Road in Ponte Vedra Beach.• First Coast Car Council - 5 p.m. Saturday at the shopping center at 445 Florida 13 and Race Track Road in Fruit Cove.• Azalea City Cruisers – 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday and every fourth Saturday in the 700 block of St. Johns Avenue in Palatka. The Cruisers also hold a cruise-in the same time every fifth Saturday at the McDonald's, 2627 Reid St. off U.S. 17 in Palatka.• Jacksonville Truck Nights - 7:30 to 11:30 p.m. the first Thursday of each month at Round Boys Grill, 11629-8 San Jose Blvd., and 7:30 to 11:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at Brewer's Pizza, 14B Blanding Blvd. in Orange Park.

Georgia cruise-ins:• Southeast Georgia Car and Truck Club cruise-ins - 6 p.m. the second Saturday of each month at Sonic's, 395 Charlie Smith Senior Highway, St. Marys; and 6 p.m. on the fourth Saturday of each month at the Millhouse Steakhouse, 1215 East King Ave. in Kingsland, next to Interstate 95.• Bike Enthusiasts show - 7 p.m. the first and third Thursdays, Cavagnaro's restaurant at 1810 South GA Parkway W. in Waycross.• Zaxby's Car Show - 6 to 9 p.m. the third Saturday of every month, Zaxby's at 2316 Memorial Drive in Waycross.